Prince Gallitzin Cross Award
Eleven people received the Prince Gallitzin Cross on June 6, 2009. Pictured left to right in the front row: Anja Wagner, Sally Lima, Patricia Forr, Janet Swanhart and Sr. Mary Denise Thomas, I.H.M. Back row: Raymond Becker, Francis Bonfatto, Rev. Carl Spishak, R. Thomas Forr, Bishop Joseph, Rev. James Conrad and Doug LaPlante.
BISHOP JOSEPH HONORS ELEVEN WITH PRINCE GALLITZIN CROSS AWARD
By Rev. Msgr. Timothy P. Stein
Editor, The Catholic Register
Eleven persons who embody the spirit of the Reverend Prince, the Servant of God Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin, received the Prince Gallitzin Cross Award at the annual award dinner and ceremony on Saturday, June 6 at the Cosgrave Center on the campus of Mount Aloysius College, Cresson.
This year's inductees were Raymond J. Becker of Saint Mary Parish, Nanty Glo; Francis J. Bonfatto of Saint John the Evangelist Parish, Bellefonte; Father James H. Conrad, pastor of Saints Timothy and Mark Parish, Twin Rocks; Attorney R. Thomas and Patricia Forr of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish, Altoona; Doug LaPlante of Good Shepherd Parish, State College; Sally Lima of Our Lady of Victory Parish, State College; Father Carl A. Spishak, senior priest residing at Saint Rose of Lima Parish, Altoona; Janet L. Swanhart of Saint John Gualbert Cathedral Parish, Johnstown; Immaculate Heart of Mary Sister Mary Denise Thomas of Saint Bernard Parish, Hastings; and Anja Wagner of Saint Matthew Parish, Tyrone.
The award was instituted in 1990 by Bishop Joseph V. Adamec to mark the 150th anniversary of Prince Gallitzin's death. The cross, based on an element of the Gallitzin coat of arms, suspended from a yellow ribbon, was presented to the awardees by Bishop Joseph.
The 2009 Prince Gallitzin Cross Honorees:
Raymond J. Becker "has kept the spirit of Father Gallitzin alive by his willingness to share his faith and gifts with the faith community of Saint Mary as well as with the broader Church," according to Father David S. Peles, pastor of the Nanty Glo parish, and the pastoral council members who supported Becker's nomination.
He has been a member of and is the past chairman of the pastoral council; served on the stewardship committee, the Christian Initiation team and the school council; has been active with the liturgy committee, the family life committee and the marriage preparation team; is part of the Charismatic Renewal movement and its associated music ministry; and takes part in a monthly team prison ministry at the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto.
Francis J. Bonfatto is described as a "pillar of Saint John's Church," by Father Neil Dadey, pastor. Bonfatto serves the Church on a parish and a diocesan level, with involvement in the parish finance council and the diocesan finance council. He has served as a regional chairman of the Diocese's Annual Catholic Appeal, and is an active member of the Knights of Columbus.
At Saint John the Evangelist Parish Bonfatto serves as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharistic, makes communion calls to the homebound, and is active in parish fund - raisers. "So often this quiet and unassuming man works so hard for the Church," said Father Dadey. "I think it is time he receives a little thank - you for everything he has done for our parish and our Diocese."
In nominating Father James H. Conrad, Grace Farren quoted Prince Gallitzin who once wrote "The true minister of Christ, dear sir, speaking in the name of his divine master, must speak with authority, with certainty, without any hesitation, on all the different mysteries of religion on which he is obliged to instruct his flock." Said Farren of Father Conrad "For over 40 years he has faithfully served the Diocese of Altoona - Johnstown ‘speaking with authority, with certainty and without any hesitation" in all the roles he has assumed over the decades."
Currently serving as pastor of Saints Timothy and Mark Parish in Twin Rocks, Father Conrad has also had a long career in Catholic education, serving as a teacher, coach and assistant principal of Bishop Carroll Catholic High School in Ebensburg. He continues as an educator in the Diocese's formation program for the permanent diaconate.
Attorney R. Thomas Forr and his wife Patricia are being honored for their commitment to the Pro - Life movement, in which they have served actively for over 35 years. They and their children have been involved with the annual March for Life, distribute pro - life literature and work with Citizens Concerned for Human Life. "It is obvious that they truly believe in what they are doing and that they willingly want to tell everyone about the value of each human life," said Father D. Timothy Grimme and fellow parishioners at Saint Therese of the Child Jesus Parish in Altoona, who nominated Mr. and Mrs. Forr.
By Thomas and Patricia are active parishioners, serving as lectors and extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, catechists and musicians. They promote recitation of the Rosary through the Marian lay movement "America Needs Family" and have organized the Town Square Rosary in Altoona.
Doug LaPlante, nominated by Father Philip Bender, pastor of Good Shepherd Parish in State College, "has been an inspiration and a comfort to the male prisoners at the Rockview Correctional Institution since he began his ministry there in 1996."
According to Father Bender LaPlante attends Sunday Mass every week with the inmates and takes Holy Communion to those unable to attend. During the week he returns to Rockview to continue his spiritual ministry, introducing the men to prayer forms including Lectio Divina (holy reading), Centering Prayer and meditation. He also assists with the annual week - long Catholic retreat.
The charitable spirit of Father Gallitzin lives on in Sally Lima, now in her fourth year as president of the Saint Vincent DePaul Society Conference at Our Lady of Victory Parish in State College. A founding member of the conference, Lima has served as vice - president and spiritual advisor, and is a member of the Saint Vincent DePaul Prayer Group.
"She is very self - sacrificing in sharing her time and talent with others," said co - nominators Monsignor David Lockard, pastor and Ken Demare, citing her service to the parish as a lector and extraordinary minister of the Eucharist, instructing adults preparing to be received into the Catholic Church, and teaching for ten years in the parish school.
Father Carl A. Spishak, a senior priest of the Diocese, was nominated by Father James Crookston and parishioners of Saint Rose of Lima Parish in Altoona, where he is in residence. "In his senior years of priesthood, his robustly active dedication continues in his service to God's people. In common with the Servant of God Demetrius, Father Spishak has learned new languages, traveled the seas, and made his priestly home within the Alleghenies."
As an example of Father Spishak's multi - faceted ministry, the nominators cited his willingness to learn Spanish, which has led to his involvement in a monthly Hispanic Mass at Saint Rose, a fiesta connected with the parish feast day, and his ministry as "Padre Carlo" to the Hispanic residents at the Federal Correctional Institution in Loretto.
Janet Swanhart is a member of Saint John Gualbert Cathedral Parish in Johnstown, where her ministry is both parish - based and diocesan - wide, according to Monsignor George Flinn, rector. She and members of the Service Group provide hospitality to parishioners and visitors at dinners and fund - raisers, and regular social events throughout the year.
When the Cathedral is the center of diocesan celebrations, especially those involving the presence of the Bishop, Swanhart and her helpers provide "superb hospitality" assuring that all are "welcome and well - fed," according to Monsignor Flinn.
A Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Sister Mary Denise Thomas is a native of Saint Bernard Parish, Hastings, where she present serves as a pastoral associate. Parishioners Dolly Sasway and Kathleen O'Rourke said that "It is through community building that Sister Denise has the greatest impact on our faith community," by initiating events such as "Soup and Stations" during Lent, adult discussion and prayer workshops during Lent and Advent," and a host of other parish ministries.
According to Benedictine Father Thaddeus Rettger, pastor, "She has a deep, passionate love for Christ, from which flows a great desire for good liturgy and care for God's people."
Anja Wagner has been actively involved in the Cause for the Servant of God Demetrius Gallitzin as a translator of German letters and documents vital to the research on Father Gallitzin.
She began her involvement in Gallitzin research at the suggestion of her pastor, Father Joseph Orr of Saint Matthew Parish in Tyrone in 2005, and translated most of the German documents submitted to postulators Frank and Betty Seymour.
